Produced by the Alcohol Policies
Project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Washington Report
provides online information and updates about federal and state alcohol-policy issues,
including alcohol advertising and marketing, labeling, product development,
taxation, and industry political and commercial initiatives. Washington
Report
also provides action alerts to inform advocates of opportunities
to promote and influence pro-health alcohol policies.

On Thursday, March 25, U.S.
Representative Tom Osborne (R-NE), joined by Reps. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Lucille
Roybal-Allard (D-CA), introduced House Resolution 575, calling upon the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to end all alcohol advertising during
radio and television broadcasts of college sporting events.

The resolution is not binding
legislation, i.e., it would not have the force of law, if passed. It would
simply express the opinion of the House, and send a strong message to the NCAA
and higher education leaders that Congress recognizes the inappropriateness of
beer advertising in college sports.

The bi-partisan measure presently has 13
co-sponsors. Please contact your Representative today, and urge him or her
to co-sponsor H.Res.575.

Omnibus appropriations legislation
signed into law last January mandated the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) to take steps to improve federal coordination on underage
drinking prevention and prepare a national plan for combating this major public
health problem. A report on progress toward developing such a plan is due
to be submitted to the House and Senate Labor-HHS appropriations committees by
April 29, 2004.

HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson designated
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) the lead
agency to head this effort, which also involves: National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Department of Justice Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the Department of
Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP),
Office of the Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), and the Administration for Children and Families.

On February 18, members of the public
health, prevention, and faith communities met with Charles Curie, Administrator
of SAMHSA, and other SAMHSA representatives to discuss their plans for the
Congressionally mandated plan and present priority areas for action including:

an adult-focused national media campaign
on underage drinking as the centerpiece of a comprehensive national plan;

improved federal coordination and
leadership on underage drinking; and

increased resources for states and
communities.

On April 13, the newly formed
Inter-Agency Committee met for the first time. CSPI, the Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth (CAMY), Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Students
Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol-Free,
the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (NLLEA) and a host of
alcoholic-beverage representatives provided brief testimony to principals of the
member agencies.

Administrator Curie said that the
national strategy should focus on three broad goals:

instilling a broad societal commitment
to reducing underage drinking;

reducing rates of underage alcohol use;
and

raising the average age of initiation
(age of first drink).

He asked member agencies to prepare
inventories of their current activities aimed at underage drinking prevention
and offer recommendations for how the agencies' current or planned activities
could support the stated goals. He noted that the committee would meet at
the staff level in the coming weeks, and the principals (agency heads) would
convene again in June.

A group of ten national organizations
sent a joint letter to the Committee, urging its members to develop a plan based
on the NAS recommendations, and reminding them of the NAS' statement that, "the
problem of underage drinking in the United States is endemic and, in the
committee's judgment, is not likely to improve in the absence of a significant
new intervention." CSPI will continue to monitor the Inter-Agency
Committee's work and encourage adoption of a comprehensive federal plan on
underage drinking that reflects and incorporates the NAS recommendations.

Members discussed plans to form a new
National Alliance to Prevent Underage Drinking, aimed at advancing the NAS
report's recommendations. A core group of national organizations (CPAP and
non-CPAP) conceived and initiated the Alliance after the NAS report's release,
and the ad-hoc coalition will soon be launched nationwide. The Alliance
will reach beyond CPAP membership and seek to involve national, state and local
organizations in building support for stronger federal action and a national
plan on underage drinking prevention. CSPI circulated the Alliance's
statement of purpose and members agreed to report back on whether their
respective organizations would join the new Alliance.

Members further agreed to consider
signing on to two joint letters:

to the House in support of H.Res.575;
and

to SAMHSA and members of the newly
forming "Inter-Agency Committee on Underage Drinking Prevention" regarding
coalition priorities for the establishment of a national strategy on underage
drinking (see article).

On April 8, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau (TTB) issued interim rules for the advertising and labeling of
calorie and carbohydrate content in alcoholic beverages. TTB expressed
concern that consumers may be confused about low-carb products and about direct
and indirect health-related claims that might appear in some advertising and
labeling.

In particular, TTB wants to avoid
statements or inferences that the low-carb drinks are part of a healthful diet
or weight-loss program. Recently, many brewers and distillers have jumped
on the popular low-carb diet bandwagon, implicitly suggesting that alcoholic
beverages should be part of a weight-loss regimen.

TTB's ruling will allow producers to
make low-carb claims only for products that contain 7 grams of carbohydrates or
less per 12-oz serving. Regular beers contain about 11 grams of
carbohydrates and light beers generally contain between 5 and 7 grams per 12-oz
serving. Anheuser-Busch's heavily-advertised Michelob Ultra has 2.6 grams
of carbs per serving and Bud Light has 6.6 grams. Producers can identify
drinks as "reduced carbohydrate" or "lower carbohydrate," but only if the
carbohydrate content is greater than 7 grams per serving and but less than the
amount of carbs in the standard version of the product. Those statements
must be accompanied by a comparison of the carb content of the regular and
"reduced carb" products. Low-carb claims in labeling and advertising
must be accompanied by disclosure of the beverage's average analysis, including
information on calories, carbs, protein, and fat. This information is
currently provided on light beers.

Last December, CSPI, the National
Consumers League (NCL), and other organizations petitioned TTB to require
"Alcohol Facts" labels on all alcoholic-beverage containers. That label
would include information about alcohol content, serving size, the number of
standard drinks per container, number of calories per serving, and ingredients.
TTB plans to propose more comprehensive labeling rules in the near future.

In March, CSPI submitted comments on
alcohol consumption to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Although
we believe the current Guidelines are essentially sound, we suggested a few
improvements in the following areas:

provide an expanded explanation why
children and adolescents should avoid drinking;

strengthen cautions related to
drinking by older adults and the elderly; and

refine information about the alcohol
and calorie content in standard servings of drinks.

The committee will accept comments
throughout the deliberation process, which will end this June. We urge you
to submit your own remarks as soon as possible. You can find talking
points in our Action Alert. Please send comments to:

The House of Representatives did not
include a provision to repeal the Special Occupational Tax (SOT) on alcohol
producers, wholesalers, and retailers in the House version of the transportation
re-authorization bill (H.R. 3550, "The Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for
Users"), which passed the House on March 31, 2004. The Senate bill was
amended to include the SOT repeal. The two bills must now be reconciled by
a House/Senate conference committee, which will meet in the coming weeks.
We expect the SOT repeal to die in conference, but we are watching closely.

The SOT is a federal excise tax levied
on all businesses that manufacture, distribute, or sell alcohol products.
Liquor, beer, and wine retailers pay a tax of $250 per store. Wholesalers
are assessed a tax of $500, while producers are charged $1,000. The tax
generates about $120 million annually in revenue to the federal government.
Evidence suggests, however, that compliance is lax. Conservative estimates
gauge that as much as $50 million to $70 million goes uncollected annually.
Alcohol prevention and enforcement advocates believe the tax should be used to
support efforts to reduce the negative consequences of alcohol consumption and
underage drinking.

Stay tuned for further updates and more
on a comprehensive future strategy to preserve the SOT and dedicate SOT revenues
to underage drinking prevention.

Ralph Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H., a leading
researcher and expert on drunk driving legislation, has joined the NIAAA as
Director of Epidemiology and Prevention Research. Prior to his
appointment, Dr. Hingson served as an Associate Dean of Research at Boston
University School of Public Health and Professor and Chair of BUSPH's Social and
Behavioral Sciences Department.

Dr. Hingson's many contributions to the
alcohol policy field include research supporting zero-tolerance laws for
underage drivers and laws lowering legal blood alcohol levels to 0.08 BAC.
He also provided assistance in developing the National Academy of Sciences'
recent Report to Congress on Developing a Strategy to Reduce and Prevent
Underage Drinking. Dr. Hingson is a real champion for improved health and
safety for young people.

Just in time for spring break, CSPI
launched a targeted advertising campaign on college campuses to highlight
the high calorie content of sweet-tasting, youth-oriented alcopop drinks
such as Smirnoff Ice, Bacardi Silver, and Skyy Blue.

The prominent half-page ads appeared
in campus newspapers of schools identified by the Princeton Review as the
top party schools in the U.S.: University of Colorado at Boulder, University
of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Indiana University at Bloomington,
University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Washington and Lee, as well as at
the University of Maryland at College Park. Those ads revealed that
one alcopop contains more calories than a Krispy Kreme donut or a package of
Twinkies.

Previous polling conducted for CSPI
last September disclosed that most Americans, including young consumers, pay
attention to their calorie intake, but were largely unaware of the high
number of calories in alcopops. CSPI polling on consumer awareness of
alcohol calories and their attitudes about alcohol-labeling should help
strengthen efforts to require calorie and ingredient labeling of all
alcoholic beverages.

Since the ads appeared in college
papers, we have received numerous requests to reproduce them for other
campus activities. If you'd like to use it, just let us know.

The Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports
TV continues to build momentum and gain allies.

Since asking the president and
athletic director at every school in the NCAA to sign our "College
Commitment" in January, 116 colleges and universities, more than 10 percent
of the NCAA, have signed on. That list grows almost every day.

The Campaign and the issues it
raises have generated significant press attention in USA Today,
Philadelphia Inquirer, on the Gannett wire service, and in multiple
trade papers.

Members of Congress have expressed
concern about beer ads in college sports broadcasts as well, as evidenced by
the introduction of H.Res.575, Rep. Tom Osborne's resolution urging the NCAA
to remove alcohol ads during its broadcasts (see article).

We thank all of our supporters and
157 endorsers for recruiting others, responding to action alerts, and
raising this issue with local colleges and universities and legislators.
If your organization has not yet endorsed the Campaign, please join our
effort to reduce youth exposure to alcohol ads during sports event
broadcasts. Just fill out an endorsement form on our website and send
or fax it to us.

There is much you can do to further
this issue in your community. The Campaign urges all interested
individuals and groups to take the following actions:

Send a letter to the college
president of your alma mater, your hometown team, or of the team you root
for on television. Urge the college's leaders to sign the College
Commitment, which is a pledge to remove alcohol ads during TV and radio
college sports broadcasts. You will find quick talking points to
include in your letter in the action center on our website.

Call, e-mail, or fax your U.S.
Representative with a request that s/he co-sponsor H.Res.575. For
further information about this resolution and how to convey its importance
to your legislator, please see the action center on our website.

Although there are no victories to
report yet this year, alcohol excise tax bills continue to be considered in
statehouses around the country. Here's a short, partial overview of
state-level tax action.

Several governors have expressed
support for raising alcohol excise taxes. Gov. John Rowland (R-CT)
included a 10 percent increase in the state’s alcohol taxes in his annual
budget plan. Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R-KY) proposed replacing the excise
taxes on all alcoholic beverages and the liquor-case sales tax with an
increase in the wholesale sales tax on all beverage types. This would
build in growth in tax revenues tied to future price increases. Gov.
Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) sought to increase the mark-up on liquor from 64 to
75 percent, which would raise $35 million in new revenues. The House
defeated that proposal in late April.

Maryland's alcohol tax increase
bill, like those in Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, and New Mexico, remains in
legislative committee. On March 19, CSPI testified before the Maryland
House Ways and Means Subcommittee in support of H.B. 889, a bill to triple
the state's alcohol tax rates.

When a South Dakota alcohol tax
increase bill was defeated in committee, supporters of the measure decided
to go directly to the voters with a ballot initiative. This drive is
lead by county commissioners seeking new revenue to meet the increasing
costs of law enforcement and criminal prosecutions.

The alcohol tax issue has also been
prominent in Kansas, where legislators have held several debates and votes
on the matter. An alcohol tax increase bill was attached to a popular,
yet controversial, Sunday sales bill; then an alcohol tax increase measure
was tied to the funding of public schools. Both were ultimately defeated in
the Senate. One more bill remains in committee awaiting consideration.

CSPI tracks alcohol tax legislation
and works with select states on grassroots advocacy around tax issues.
Please visit our website for frequent state tax updates, sample state tax
reports, advocacy documents to help raise alcohol taxes in your state, and
other information.

If there is movement on alcohol tax
issues in your state, please contact Ann Boonn. Please contact Amy Gotwals if you would like advocacy
assistance.

The November 2003 Washington
Report included examples of how state activists were responding to the
National Academy of Sciences' report on underage drinking. New
Hampshire, California, New Jersey, and Texas were the four states profiled
in that issue.

New Hampshire advocates are
continuing to work on a state plan to reduce underage alcohol problems and
will convene a statewide strategy session on May 24. John Bunker,
President of New Futures, the NH organization leading the effort, is seeking
information from other states working on similar initiatives. If your
state is focused on developing a response to underage drinking, or would
like to, please contact John Bunker.

Please share all your latest local
and state efforts to leverage the NAS report to bolster your underage
drinking reduction programs. Send them to Amy Gotwals so
we can reference them in future updates from the field.

Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol
Problems at the George Washington University Medical Center released its
newest online resource, the Alcohol Cost Calculator for Kids, aimed at
community members, health and safety advocates, policy makers, and
educators. This tool enables users to estimate the number of youth in
their community who may need alcohol treatment, and to quantify the
associated alcohol-related problems those youth face, including arrests, low
grades, drug problems, impaired driving, emergency room visits, lost school
days, and more.

The information can be used to
tailor policy proposals and advocacy materials with statistical data
specific to states and communities. This user-friendly resource shows
concise information with the option of printing out a report.

David Rosenbloom, current director
of the non-profit organization JoinTogether, has been appointed as director
of the new Center to Prevent Alcohol-Related Problems Among Young People at
the Boston University School of Public Health. The Center, funded by a
$10 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism (NIAAA), will perform research projects and set up public
seminars and workshops.

On April 22, Anheuser-Busch placed
advertisements in 31 newspapers, criticizing the South Beach Diet for
spreading inaccurate information regarding the carbohydrate content in beer.
The ads capped a weeks-long challenge to South Beach Diet guru Dr. Arthur
Agatston's claim that beer contains carbohydrates worse than those in sugar,
ultimately leading to "beer bellies."

A-B's deceptive ad ignored the
beer-gut calories in beer and implied that all beer is "low-carb" and
suitable for a diet. Budweiser has 10.6 grams of carbohydrate per serving,
more than the 7 grams per serving TTB recently defined as the upper limit
for beers making "low-carb" claims. Seems as if the South Beach Diet
was cutting into sales...

Budweiser may be the "King of
Beers." Miller, the "President of Beers." And now, Coors wants
to be the "Senator of Beers." Peter Coors, Chairman of Coors Brewing
Company, recently announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for
U.S. Senator from Colorado.

The National Beer Wholesalers of
America (NBWA) immediately declared its support of the beer champion and
arranged a fund-raiser at its Washington legislative conference.

If elected, he would succeed Sen.
Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R), who will retire at the end of the current
Congress. He plans to focus on job creation and making permanent
President Bush's tax cut package. We wonder whether he'll also lead
the charge to repeal the 1991 increase in federal excise taxes on beer.